The last time Francisco the Man released new music was the same month Barack Obama announced his candidacy for presidency – February 2007. Heath Ledger and Michael Jackson were still alive, as was the American economy. Point is, it was a very long time ago.

Luckily, the band – now a trio, consisting of Riverside’s Scotty Cantino and Corona residents Nestor Romero and Abdeel Ortega – haa finally put together a new EP, this month’s With Friends Like You. We’ve got one of the songs right here, “Do You Remember,” and it already ranks among the band’s best. At a surprisingly breezy six-and-a-half minutes, Cantino guides a rousing “seize the day” anthem that’s just a tad wistful, asking “Do you remember when you were young, the way you used to think?” Think of it as Francisco the Man’s “Summer of ’69” – but with rich, distinctive guitar flavor driving an extended instrumental sequence, and no references to your mama’s porch.

“In the most basic sense, ‘Do You Remember?’ is just a song about growing up,” Cantino tells via email. “Specifically, a song about old friends, people moving away, and things in general changing. It might even be more about dealing with the changes life brings than it is about growing up. Who knows?”

It’s already become one of Cantino’s favorites, too.

“It has quite a bit of nostalgia for me, and quite frankly it is my favorite song to sing and play by far,” Cantino writes.
Francisco the Man are putting out the five-song With Friends Like You as a 12-inch EP, available for pre-order now. Physical copies will be available in May (vinyl takes a long time print, Cantino points out), but the record’s also going to be for sale digital-style at the usual outlets: ITunes, eMusic, LaLa, Amazon.

Francisco The Man’s EP release party is tonight at Commonwealth Lounge in Fullerton with My Pet Saddle and Preacher’s Sons. 21+ $5